macromolecule

1886, from macro- + molecule. Apparently coined in "On Macro-molecules, with the Determinations of the Form of Some of Them," by Anglo-Irish physicist G. Johnstone Stoney (1826–1911). Originally of crystals. Meaning "molecule composed of many atoms" is from 1935, from German makromolekul (1922). Related: Macromolecular.